Aerostich Kanetsu AIRVANTAGE Electric Vest#244-245-246

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Kanetsu AIRVANTAGE®

This electrically heated gear has a unique and patented inflatable insert which not only blocks external drafts better than any conventional liner, it also insulates you better. And while it's doing that it also gently urges the heating elements closer to you for a more efficient heat transfer. You'll ride warmer, in greater comfort with less electrical load on your bike.

Traditionally, having an efficient electric garment has meant suffering an uncomfortably close-fitting movement-restricting designs. The Airvantage insert allows you to adjust its exact fit, insulation and overall closeness with a few breaths of air. This feels like a soft warm hug.

The liner model is based on a Darien liner, but provides an under-jacket environment which can be much warmer.

Three separate heating circuits provide fast and even warmth everywhere. One inside each of the sleeves and another for the combined body and collar areas. The sleeves use a slightly different version of resistance heating wire which is a bit 'warmer' than the torso's so you feel the same warmth everywhere.

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Which power connector?

If you have a BMW with a built-in BMW accessory socket, then the BMW-style connector is simple, easy and good. Otherwise we recommend the Quickconnect, also known as coaxial or 'male-and-female' style. It's the easiest to use (to connect and disconnect) and has lowest electrical resistance, so your gear heats up a little faster. (A nanosecond? Half a minute? In use we can't feel any difference, but we once did some controlled bench tests and there is a difference.)

There are zero reliability issues with all styles. All are tough and durable in all weathers and conditions. The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) style is the commonest and oldest design, and it's the hardest to push together and pull apart, but this gets slightly easier as it breaks in. It's also the least expensive to manufacture, and is the most widely available at auto parts stores.

The BMW style has one feature the other two don't...It comes apart with a screwdriver. Inside are two little set screws, one holding each wire to it's respective terminal. These make it simple to transfer the plug to another wire if anything does break. This style is slightly larger and bulkier, and by a small margin it's the easiest to manipulate wearing bulky insulated gloves.

But we still prefer and recommend the durable, compact and easiest-to-use Quickconnect coaxial style. Overall, it's the best.

- Mr. Subjective, 12-13

Simplifying Comfort (...a Better Power-cord)

We have been making this pretty neat coil cord power control for twenty years. I remember designing it to be an illuminated hi-low inline switch of such small dimension that it would not be a 'lump' in the middle of a compact coily power cord. We went round-and-round trying to find a switch which would allow a better functioning and packaging design. Something tactually, visually, and ergonomically lighter and cleaner.

And there still isn't anything as good in terms of simplicity and overall handy-ness. I wanted this cord switch to be so easy to use one could forgo a thermostat. They always seemed useless over-complexity...even the newer nice digital ones everyone uses now (just yesterday all were stupid power-hungry inefficient resistance rheostats). I'd used one several times but wanted something thoughtlessly simple, super-compact and field-reparable if ever needed. (This last consideration turned out irrelevant.)

It's just too easy to be riding along and without looking down move my left hand downward from the grip momentarily to find the cord lying across my left thigh and then by touch alone (finger or thumb) push or release the illuminated in-out button…then move my hand back to the left grip.

It's only one second, done without thinking, and there's no fumbling around. I can feel at a touch if the button is in high or low position to maintain temperature at a nice level all day long, with neither thought or effort. Just click-on and click-off as needed for comfort, and if there's ever question about power status a quick glance down shows the red pilot light glowing on or off through the button's cap. Even in daylight.

So today if I were for some reason forced to use some non-Aerostich electric garment, I'd still want this simple, intuitive and reliable coil cord and switch.

- Mr. Subjective 12-13

Rider Magazine Review: Aerostich Kanetsu Airvantage Electric Vest

Riding gear that fits too tightly often becomes uncomfortable on long rides. On the other hand, electric vests work better the tighter they fit, because the closer they are to your body the more heat they transfer.

But what if you’re not built the way the vest is—if, for example, the vest is cut for a rider with broad shoulders and a thin waist, and you’re just the opposite? If you buy a vest that’s big enough to fit comfortably around your midsection, it’ll be loose at the shoulders, and loose spots equal cool spots. Now there’s a solution to the problem—the new Kanetsu Airvantage vest from Aerostich.

The Kanetsu Airvantage is made of Aerostich’s TLTec 1 fleece. It has a heated collar that’s thinner and shorter than those on some other vests so it doesn’t bunch under your jacket when you fold it down. The vest is cut long in the back and shorter in the front, so it doesn’t ride up in the back or bind in the front in a seated position. It has two pockets, one on the inside for storing the power cord and another on the back that you can fold the vest into and zip shut for compact storage. The main zipper is a two-way. Continue to Full Review

Motorcycle Consumer News Review

"As expected from an Aerostich garment, the Kanetsu's overall build quality is superb. The Kanetsu lives up to Aerostich's reputation and was the best of all liners tested. Also...the Kanetsu did an admirable job of blocking windchill. Its Windstopper exterior allowed for a lower setting on the controllers to achieve the same equivalent feeling of toasty warmth as the other two liners on higher settings. Heat was evenly distributed, with no dramatic cold or hot spots detected." - April 2010 Motorcycle Consumer News Heated Riding Gear Comparison, by Moshe K. Levy.